1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to display systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and methods for displaying three-dimensional information on a two-dimensional display.
2. Description of the Related Art
In air traffic control, it is critically important to maintain vertical and horizontal separation between aircraft. To assist in this endeavor, aircraft location and heading is displayed to an air traffic controller. The air traffic controller continuously monitors the air space and searches for potential conflicts; that is, simultaneous occupation of a volume of airspace (e.g., two aircraft that have less than 3 miles of horizontal separation or less than 300 feet of vertical separation).
Presently, air traffic controllers typically use plan view displays, which represent the position of each aircraft with an icon plotted in two-dimensional space (i.e., latitude and longitude). The altitude of each aircraft is displayed as a number in a data block associated with the aircraft icon. In order to detect potential conflicts in vertical separation, the human observer is required to find the numbers associated with an aircraft icon, read the numerical altitude, then numerically compute pairwise aircraft separations. This is cognitively demanding.
Alternatively, air traffic controllers use elevational displays of aircraft altitude. These displays use the y-axis in a two-dimensional display to directly represent aircraft vertical height. Elevational displays, however, do not convey aircraft position (latitude and longitude) and are therefore seldom used.
Computer conflict detection algorithms are available which endeavor to automatically detect and predict air traffic conflicts. These algorithms, however, fall short of providing a level of performance and accuracy sufficient to eliminate the need for an air traffic controller. The problem is computationally intense and the most sophisticated algorithms are currently unable to solve the problem within the time constraints of the application.
Further, in view of the risks, air traffic control will involve a human controller for the foreseeable future notwithstanding the availability of an adequate automated system.
Hence, a need remains in the art for an improved system or method for facilitating vertical separation of aircraft in a controlled environment.